


“I thought I could manage. I can’t. Not without you. Not ever, like that.”

by spookyghostcurves



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Friendship/Love, Galra Keith (Voltron), Hurt/Comfort, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-17
Updated: 2016-07-17
Packaged: 2018-07-24 16:09:59
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,761
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7514684
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/spookyghostcurves/pseuds/spookyghostcurves
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Keith's half-Galra form is revealed, the paladins have mixed reactions. Lance's is the worst. | Fic inspired by a dialogue prompt.</p>
            </blockquote>





	“I thought I could manage. I can’t. Not without you. Not ever, like that.”

Keith curled up beneath his covers, as if the layer of thin cotton could shield him from every reflective surface the world had to offer.

It all happened so quickly. He replayed the battle in his head again and again, trying to figure out where he slipped up, what caused this sickening transformation. One moment he was fighting the Galra with his teammates, and the next there was purple overtaking his skin like a plague. It was a sensation he saw but couldn’t feel, the shattered and torn bits of his armor providing windows to his change. 

He heard the others calling his name, first Shiro and then Lance as well. But he was frozen in place, staring at his hand in wide-eyed horror until Hunk yanked him out of the line of fire. The Galra threat was eliminated and their mission was accomplished, but all attention turned to Keith once they were back aboard the ship.

The team all seemed apprehensive about him to some degree or another - Pidge examined him from afar, Hunk offered a feeble smile whenever Keith looked at him, Shiro and Allura tried assuring him that he was alright, that they’d figure out what happened. But Lance was the harshest, by far. He couldn’t look Keith in the eye. 

Coran put him into a healing pod and did a scan, his usual, intrigued smile replaced by a concerned knit in his brow. “According to this… you’re fine,” he said, continuing before the others could go on with their questions. “There’s Galra blood in your system, and there always has been. It’s been dormant until now, but so much exposure to other Galra must have triggered a reaction in your body.” He squinted at the screen once again before nodding. “If my scanners are correct - and they’re always correct - you are 50% Galra, Keith.”

The news was not good, and raised more questions than it answered. 

“That doesn’t make any sense,” Pidge said, “How is that even possible? A hybrid of species shouldn’t be–” A short elbow to the side from Hunk silenced the green paladin. The look on Keith’s face made it clear that he didn’t want to hear how unnatural he was. He didn’t want to hear anything. 

“Well what are we going to do?” Lance said at last, all eyes going to him. “Just pretend it’s all fine and good that Keith is one of the bad guys?”

“Lance!” Shiro snapped, but for once a stern syllable from him wasn’t enough to shut Lance down. 

“What?! We’ve been zipping around the universe for months– almost a year now, trying to stop the Galra and as it turns out there’s been one under our nose this whole time. Is no one else freaked out by this?”

“Keith has proven himself to be a trustworthy paladin, this… development can’t change that.”

“Development, that’s rich. It sure explains a lot though. Remember that time Allura was, y’know, taken to Zarkon’s front door and Keith wanted to just leave her there? Or how about that time he disobeyed direct orders and tried to take Zarkon down all by himself?”

“Lance–”

“Oh, you’re right, Shiro, excuse me,” he said with a bitter laugh, “That was the same day.”

Keith felt rage building in his system as Lance went on, but all he could do was watch from behind the healing pod’s door. 

“He’s always been a loose canon and now we know why. Who knows how different he’s going to be now that his Galra side’s been tapped into?” For the first time since the change, Lance’s eyes darted to Keith. “How do we know that they can’t use him?”

“Shut up!” Keith snarled, his anger boiling over in the form of a punch that had the pod’s altean shield quivering. Lance was startled by move, and much to Keith’s dismay so were the others. The feeling of shame that weighed on his heart when his team mates gave him one shared, fearful look was enough to douse the fight in him. 

Shiro led Keith to his room in silence. 

Lance’s little outburst had everyone on edge, even if they didn’t want to agree with him. “I’m sure this will blow over in a few days,” Shiro assured, laying a hand on Keith’s shoulder. He jerked it away in an instant, retreating to his bed without a word. Shiro watched him for a moment before shutting the door with a sigh. 

Three days passed. 

Keith didn’t leave his room.

For once he managed to appease his need for movement with pacing and pushups, refusing to give in to the temptation to go to the training room to let off steam. That might have proven Lance’s point; might have made him seem like more of a Galra. 

When he wasn’t trying to blow off steam in his cramped quarters, Keith would curl up in his bed, trying to ignore the way the sheets felt against his new, cat-like ears. Hunk came in now and then to bring him food or take away what he’d picked at. Every time he offered a pat on the back and reminded Keith that they were all ready to talk whenever he felt like coming out. He was never met with a proper response, but Keith appreciated the sentiment. 

Throughout the third day, Keith kept wondering if going out would be a good idea. Surely the others would have done some research by that point and had more information about Galra biology and wether or not he was actually a threat. But what if the answer wasn’t what he wanted to hear? What if he was essentially a sleeper soldier, one step closer to his ultimate goal? What if he could be reprogrammed with a wave of Zarkon’s hand? The guy managed to convert an entire species to his side, what if biology had something to do with it? 

The thoughts had Keith’s heartbeat spiraling out of control, anxiety clawing at him from within. He was thankful when they were interrupted by the sound of his door opening and the smell of fresh food. They must have landed, if Hunk managed to get his hands on ingredients that smelled that good. 

This time there were no words. Keith heard the tray being set down and then silence, soon followed by the feeling of the mattress taking on weight near his legs. He tensed instantly, drawing his knees up to make himself smaller. “Hunk, I really don’t want to talk,” he insisted, his voice small after a few days without use.

“Not Hunk.”

The sound of his voice made Keith’s stomach drop, and his impulse to shrink grew tenfold.

“What do you want, Lance?” he all but groaned, staying firmly hidden beneath his covers.

“Could you at least come out from under there? I feel like I’m talking to a kid.”

“Better than talking to a Galra.”

A few moments passed in tense silence. 

“Half-Galra,” Lance pointed out.

With a reluctant huff, Keith sat up and pulled the sheet off, revealing himself in full; yellow eyes, lavender skin, and his once-black hair now a dark aubergine in hue. Other additions included the ears currently matted down atop his head and tiny fangs. 

“What is it? Am I getting ejected into space? Handed over the Galra?”

“No. I came in here to, um...” Lance rubbed at the back of his neck. “Apologize. To you.”

Now that was a surprise. Keith’s eyes widened before narrowing in suspicion, still keeping his distance at the other end of his bed. Lance took his silence as a sign to continue. 

“Listen, when I saw you change like that I just... I got scared. The only other times I’ve seen eyes like that up close were when I was about to get shot at or run through with a sword. And I felt really, um. Betrayed? That sounds harsh. But I thought we were really starting to get close and-- I mean, shit, I’ve told you things I haven’t even told Hunk yet,” he managed, clearly struggling to get the words out. 

Keith thought back to the few times Lance came to join him for his late-night training sessions, when they were alone and Lance could stop with the whole “rivals” thing. When they got to talking, Lance had opened up once or twice, but Keith never thought he was the only once Lance shared with. 

“So when I saw you like that I assumed the worst. Which was... shitty and stupid of me and I was being a real ass hat,” he concluded. “I’m sorry.”

Keith drew his knees up to his chin and looked away, wondering if his new eyes emoted any differently than the old ones. Because in all honesty, he felt a little choked up. 

“And that’s not all,” Lance went on, as if he hadn’t said enough. “It’s no secret that I’ve been really homesick up here. And the others make it a little bit easier, but not the same way you do. I didn’t realize how much talking to you all the time helped me- even if half of it was you insulting me and me completely roasting you with a comeback,” Keith wanted to point out his error, but decided to let it slide, “I guess what I’m trying to say is, when you first changed I wanted to you leave... I thought I could manage. I can’t. Not without you. Not ever, like that.”

Lance wasn’t looking at him any more, but Keith could see the way the tips of his ears were turning red. He was blushing. A lot. A little smile tugged at the corner of his lips and he lowered his feet, sitting with his legs stretched out before him. “Thanks,” he said, nudging Lance with one of his feet. “It’s okay. I probably wouldn’t have reacted any better if the same thing happened to you.”

Lance turned to him with a smile, one he was glad to return. And one that was, apparently, accompanied by his ears perking up to their full height. 

“Oh my god, do those move?!” Lance exclaimed, crawling over on all fours and reaching for Keith’s now-twitching ears.

“Get off of me!”

“They’re kinda cute! You’re not scary at all, you’re adorable!”

“Lance!”

The sounds of their scuffle filtered out of Keith’s open door and into the hallway. One by one the other paladins heard the familiar and much-missed sound of Keith and Lance arguing, all of them relieved that things were going back to normal.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! Critique is very much appreciated. Hit me up at voltronpoint.tumblr.com if you have a request! Thanks to writhingheart on tumblr for this one!


End file.
